This Christmas
by goosepickle
Summary: AU. In which Ally Dawson doesn't have a particular liking towards Christmas and is a little scared and Austin Moon absolutely adores everything there is about Christmas is just the right amount of fearless. What happens when they happen to stumble into each other's lives?
1. Chapter 1

_**"This Christmas will be a very special Christmas to me..."**_

Twenty-two year old, Ally Dawson, let out a a heavy sigh. It was the first of December and it seemed as if Christmas had just... thrown up all over the mall.

Ally understood why others could love the holiday season so much, well... sort of. What she didn't understand, though, was why it had to be shoved down her throat, when all she really wanted to do was go into work and go about her own business.

Despite what she wanted, though, she was faced with fake, fluffy snow piled on the windows of stores she passed by on the way to Sonic Boom. She was nearly blinded by the array of Christmas lights that bordered a few stores, as well.

Rolling her eyes at the stores that had employees dressed in red and green and donning Santa hats, Ally finally reached her destination. A safe haven, nonetheless. Sonic Boom.

She pushed open the red doors, breathing in the familiar scent of the musical store, closing her eyes.

When her brown eyes flung open, though, she could have sworn that she could have puked at the sight she saw in front of her.

A Christmas tree that towered over her petite frame. Fake presents wrapped pristinely underneath the green tree. Lights that framed nearly every inch of the store. Christmas themed rugs that sat in front of the store counters. Styrofoam snowflakes hanging from the ceiling.

So, maybe Sonic Boom wasn't going to be her safe haven this year after all.

"Ho, ho, ho!" a familiar voice echoed from the back room of the store. Quicker than Ally could roll her eyes, her father appeared through the door, garbed head to toe in Santa attire. "Merry Christmas, Ally!"

"Dad," Ally whined, stomping her boot clad foot on the tile floor beneath her. "You know how much I hate all of this stuff. Especially since it's only the first of the month."

"Yeah, I do, but I don't hate this stuff!" Lester exclaimed cheerily. Noticing the grimace that was etched onto his daughter's face, he began to defend his position. "Come on, sweetie. You used to love the holidays! It's been so long since we really got into the holiday spirit. I miss it."

Ally sighed, knowing how much her father did, in fact, adore Christmas, but also knowing how much she was irritated by it. "Sorry, Dad... I just don't like Christmas."

"Is it because you're always alone on Christmas?" the older man interrogated, without any hesistation.

Ally's eyes widened in shock of her father's wild accusation - and his blunt way of phrasing it. "I'm not alone on Christmas. I spend Christmas with you, Mom, Trish and Dez. Every year," the younger spoke in a "duh" tone.

"Allyson..." Lester spoke sternly, his stare becoming just the smallest bit hard when he spoke the woman's full name. "I mean, your mother and I have each other. Trish and Dez have each other. And, you know... you-"

Ally waved her hand around in protest. "Yeah, yeah, and I have no one. Everyone's got somebody but me. Yeah, I get it, Dad. I'm alone the other 11/12 of the year, so what does it matter being alone for the entirety of the year?" she perked an eyebrow.

"Ally, I'm just saying... you're twenty-two years old. Maybe it's time you finally found someone. Got yourself settled down, y'know?" the man offered his idea to his daughter, as he fiddled around with the random items laying on the counter in front of him.

"I'm _only _twenty-two, Dad. I don't need to settle down."

"Trish and Dez only hang around us for Christmas because you're there, honey. They're settled down and they're your age. I don't see anything wrong with settling down at 22," he shrugged, moving his Santa beard around to be more comfortable.

Ally rolled her big brown eyes at her father's insincerity towards her decision to be alone. "Trish and Dez have been practically in love with each other since we were kids. If I had met someone that young and been so... perfect with them, I would be settled down, as well. I'm not, though. And I'm okay with that. I don't see why you aren't." Ally made her way to her regular spot behind the counter, opening the cash register and making sure everything was the way it was meant to be.

The truth, though, was that Ally did feel awfully alone when she realized that everyone, including her best friends, had a "somebody", excluding herself.

And maybe the reason she hadn't felt particularly "jolly" for the past few years was because it seemed as if when she became perfectly content with being alone during the holdiay season, one of her single girl friends would come running to her with just the most sickingly cute story of how they met a boy because of a stupid mistletoe or at some stupid family/friend dinner and they shared the same disgust for something stupid. And she had never gotten the chance to share a stupid cute story about how she had found love underneath a stupid plant, or whatever.

But, really, though. Ally didn't particularly mind being alone. Being alone meant she got to choose what she ate for dinner, she got to pick the movies, and what she did for the day. And what else could be better than that... right?

"Who knows, Ally? Maybe you could find love this year," her father's voice broke Ally from her trance. "The holidays are all about having hope, you know."

Ally rolled her eyes. "I don't need to find love, Dad. I have the two best friends I could ask for. The best parents. And I'm going to a great university. I don't need... _love_," she spat the word out, as if it were toxic.

"Well, certainly, you don't need it, Ally. I just think it could help you get into the spirit a little more. Plus, it's nice to have someone to love," her father smiled a big, friendly smile at her. Before she could reply, though, he waved to her, shouting, "Well, I'm off to go be the mall Santa for the day!"

"It's the first of December and they already want a mall Santa?" she asked, knitting her brows together in confusion, but not recieving an answer as her father wobbled out of the store.

The brunette continued counting the bills in the cash register, sighing quietly to herself.

Maybe her father was right. Maybe this Christmas would be different.


	2. Chapter 2

"Can you believe my dad, Trish?" Ally queried to her best friend, who was currently standing on the opposite side of the counter. "He thinks that I don't like Christmas anymore because everyone has someone but me. How... preposterous!" the pale brunette flailed her arms in every which direction to express how frustrated she was.

Trish listened to her friend rant about the antics of her father, while typing out a text on her phone. Hitting "send", Trish looked up and sighed. "Is that why?"

"Wh- I- no!" Ally nearly shrieked. Letting out a loud groan, she placed her head in hands. "Why does everyone think that's why?!"

Trish threw up her hands in mock innocence. "It was just a question, Ally." Trish bit her lip, trying to determine if she wanted to bring up her next point. "I mean, the last time you were really into the Christmas season was our senior year of high school... and after that, that's when everyone else started to get a 'somebody.'"

Ally groaned again. "I don't need a person to enjoy a holiday. I simply just grew out of the Christmas spirit, I guess."

"But someone who loved it as much as you did certainly can't just grow out of it as quickly as you did," Trish pointed an accusing finger at her brunette friend.

Ally shook her head. "Yes, they can. I was eighteen the last time I really celebrated Christmas. I just grew up after that. I'm 22 now, Trish. Come on."

"Ally, maybe you should at least just try-" Trish was cut off by an enthusiastic voice coming from the doorway of Sonic Boom.

"Hey, Trish!" Dez's cheery voice rang. "Ally," he nodded a polite "hello" in his friend's direction.

"Hi," Ally replied shortly, almost feeling guilty for being so rude to Dez, but her irritation got the better of her.

"What's got you on this end of town?" Trish smiled at her boyfriend.

Ally eternally groaned at the sight of the couple in front of her. Trish and Dez had met during the trio of friends' freshman year of high school. Dez had moved to Miami from some city in Oregon that Ally couldn't remember the exact name of. He was in all of Ally and Trish's classes and somehow made his way into the group.

In their sophomore year of high school, at the ripe age of 16, Dez had finally confessed to Ally how he felt about Trish and Ally couldn't keep her mouth shut long enough and told Trish and Trish, too, admitted she had a secret crush on Dez. Eventually, the two finally got together and they had been with one another ever since.

Ally admired the couple, really, she did. It was just that sometimes she felt as if she were a burden when Dez and Trish wanted to do "couple-y" things, like double dates or things like that. Or when Trish and Dez had other plans and Ally asked if either of them wanted to hang out and they had to awkwardly decline.

"Just some work thing," Dez waved it off as unimportant. (As unimportant as a job at an advertisement agency could get, Ally assumed.) "That, and I wanted to see my favorite girl," the redhead smiled flirtatiously at the short Latina standing next to him, leaning down to plant a kiss on her lips.

"Bleh," Ally teased, a joking smile present on her face.

The couple broke apart and Dez gave his old friend a once over. "What's got you being so Scrooge-y, Dawson?"

"Excuse me?"

"Every employee in this mall is dressed up in some sort of Christmas attire. Heck, I even saw your dad being the mall Santa!" the older man shrieked excitedly. "And you're just wearing regular clothes."

"It's only the first of the month, Dez. Besides, I-"

"Hate Christmas?" Trish finished for her friend, smirking. "Kidding," she added quickly once she saw the look of death upon her best friend's face.

"Ally Dawson hates Christmas? She finally admitted it?" Dez queried curiously.

"I don't hate Christmas, dammit!" Ally yelled, slamming her tiny fist on the red counter in front of her. "Why does everyone think that?!"

Dez threw his hands up in surrender. "Calm down, Ally. It's just become evident in the last few years that-"

"I don't need a stupid boyfriend!" Ally screamed again, growing frustrated with her friends. When she noticed their wide eyes and gaping mouth, she rolled her brown eyes. "I'm going to get a coffee... or something. Watch the store for me. I'll be back later."

* * *

"I'll take a tall caramel latte, please," Ally muttered to the barista behind the counter at the mall's Starbucks as she typed out a text message to a friend on her phone.

"That will be," the employee typed a few keys on the cash register in front of him, "$4.53, ma'am."

Ally fished her wallet out of her purse and handed over a crisp five dollar bill.

"What's your name, miss?" the blonde employee asked, a Sharpie ready in his hand.

"Ally," she replied, shoving her phone in her pocket.

"Your latte will be ready at the bar, Miss Ally," the employee smiled a friendly smile at the brunette as her eyes trailed their way up to his.

"Thanks, Mr...," Ally's eyes fell to the man's name tag, "Austin."

He chuckled softly at her while she moved along and the next customer came up, speaking their order to him.

Only about a minute later, the same familiar voice called out, "Ally!" from the bar.

Ally turned around from her fixated gaze on the window of the small Starbucks shop, as she watched the people scurrying around the mall. Sauntering over to the bar, she grabbed the small cup from Austin's hands and smiled politely. "Thank you."

"Just doing my job, miss," he smiled, beginning to walk back over to his spot, before adding. "But... seriously. It's my job," he teased, shooting the woman a flirtatious wink.

"Yeah, yeah," Ally laughed at his silliness, suddenly feeling at ease and forgetting about her pent up frustration from just moments before.

Ally walked back over to her small table at the window, sipping on her latte and scrolling mindlessly down her Facebook news feed, hoping for something remotely interesting to show up on her screen.

Twenty minutes and a tall latte later, Ally was still sitting at her table, arguing silently with herself about whether or not she should return to Sonic Boom and to her friends.

She had received a text from both Dez and Trish saying something along the lines of "I'm sorry for implying you need a boyfriend" or anything related to the sorts.

On one hand, Ally knew she was most likely over reacting to the whole situation. Her friends and family were just worried for her romantic life, she assumed. Ally hadn't really been on a numerous amount of dates in the last two and a half years. Sure, lots of men had showed interest in her or had asked her out, but she usually politely declined or agreed and slightly regretted it. Most of the men she had went out with never saw a second or third date. Or an answered phone call, if that. And sure, sometimes Ally did worry that maybe she wouldn't settle down, but she was young and had more than enough time, right?

On the other hand, though, Ally was just so tired of having to reassure everyone that she was more than okay with being alone and not having a date every Friday night or having someone to see every Saturday night or Sunday morning. It just simply didn't bother her as much as it seemed to bother everyone else.

Pulling her from her thoughts, Ally heard the chair across from her scoot across the tile floor.

"Is there any particular reason you've been sitting over here by yourself for almost half an hour? And your latte's all gone and you have this seemingly sad look on your face," the person across from her said, with a shake of the empty cup.

Ally looked up from her phone, meeting the brown eyes she had just met a few moments before. "Is there any particular reason you're talking to a stranger?" the brunette countered, a smile on her face, as she locked her phone. "Didn't your mother ever teach you about that?"

Austin laughed out loud, fixing his green apron. "Cute," he nodded, pursing his lips. "Everyone else I've served in the last half hour either already left or they're sitting with a friend. You looked like you could use one," the blonde shrugged.

"I'm not sure if you really classify as a friend."

Putting a hand over his heart, Austin gasped. "I am offended, ma'am. I served you a latte _and _sat down by you when I thought you looked too sad to be alone. I am hurt."

Ally rolled her eyes at the practical stranger's antics. "My apologies, sir. I just don't really know you all too well. Maybe the right choice of words could be that I looked like I needed an acquaintance?" she lifted her shoulders up, following her question.

"Okay, sorry, let me retry that," he rolled his hazel eyes at the brunette in front of him. "Hello, ma'am. I couldn't help but notice that you've been sitting here for about half an hour by yourself and you seemed a little upset. I thought you could use an acquaintance, so here I am," he stretched his arms out, as if to say "ta-da!".

"Better," Ally shot him a small smile.

Austin sighed, perhaps getting this girl to give him just a little bit of attention would be more difficult than he thought.

Although, it was true that he did notice she looked a little upset as she either scrolled through the contents of her cell phone or gazed out the window, it was also true that when he first saw as she walked into the cafe, he thought she was strikingly beautiful. And he just had to get to know her, didn't he?

"So what's got you so down, Miss Ally?" Austin questioned, absentmindedly shaking her empty cup.

"I appreciate it, but I'm not sure I know you well enough to tell you all about my personal problems, Mr. Austin," Ally giggled softly, enjoying the few minutes of attention this man was giving her.

And Ally could admit to herself, as well, that when she first met eyes with Austin, that she took him as ridiculously handsome and he just had the prettiest shade of hazel eyes that she had ever seen in her twenty-two years of life.

"Well, Ally, let's see what I can do to change that..." he said thoughtfully, tapping his index finger on his lips. "I got it!" he said, entirely too enthusiastically. "Well, my name is Austin Moon. I work at Starbucks in the Mall of Miami. I like pancakes and music and dancing and scary movies. I really like maple syrup on top of a stack of nice, hot, fluffy pancakes. Hmm... I'm a sucker for romantic comedies."

He flickered his hazel eyes in every which direction before whispering, "Truth be told, _The Proposal _is my favorite movie."

Ally laughed to herself. "Do you have a mega crush on Ryan Reynolds, too?"

"My favorite Ryan," Austin laughed at the pair's banter before continuing. "And I actually..." he leaned over the table whispering once again, "sort of like country music."

Ally faked a gasp, quite loud, at that. "I don't know if we can be friends after all, Austin Moon," she spoke his full name, hinting that she had been listening.

"What?! Have you even _heard _Blake Shelton sing?!" Austin shrieked, his eyes widening in astonishment.

Ally laughed loudly, almost falling right out of the chair and onto the floor.

"Now it's your turn. I told you all about me, so go!" Austin pointed to her.

"Is it necessary that I do this?"

"Yes."

Ally sighed heavily, feigning annoyance. "My name's Ally Dawson. I really like pickles and coffee and tacos and superheroes. I can sort of play piano, but I'm not that good at it. I go to a university not too far from Miami, actually. I'm majoring in Marine Biology. And I _hate _country music," she smirked at her final words.

"Superheroes?" Austin asked, raising an eyebrow at the female in front of him.

"Yes?"

"Which one's your favorite?" he asked, narrowing his eyes so much that they were almost tiny slits.

"Iron Man," she said as if there was no other choice.

"Hm... good choice. Ever read the comic books?"

"Duh," she said in excitement. She had never met someone who had any sort of interest in superheroes or comic books like she did. (Trish and Dez always brushed off her interest in the topic or jokingly teased her about her dorkiness)

"Good girl," Austin laughed. "Well, Miss Ally Dawson, I'd say a good deal about you to consider you my friend."

Ally shook her head, "I dunno about that, Mr. Moon. I don't even know your favorite color. Or your birthday."

Austin groaned in defeat. "My birthday is December 29. I was born in 1990. My favorite color is yellow. And yourself, ma'am?"

"November 29. 1991," she shot off almost automatically. "Red."

"Is that good enough to be friends?" Austin asked, almost begging.

"I suppose so," the petite brunette shrugged. "If I think of other important friend things that I need to know, I'll tell you."

"Yay," Austin smiled triumphantly. "So, Miss Dawson, what's brought you down to the wonderful Mall of Miami on this fine, December day?"

"My dad owns Sonic Boom, so, naturally, I work here," she said sheepishly.

"You mean to tell me you work here and you're not even dressed up for the holiday season?" the blonde asked incredulously.

"It's December 1st, not the 24th, Mr. Moon. I don't see why I should dress up for a holiday that's not for another 3 and a half weeks," Ally remarked matter-of-factly. "Besides, _you're _not dressed up, either."

"Ah, ah, ah," Austin made a disapproving sound with his mouth before ambling over to behind the counter and pulling out a pile of red and white fluff. "That's where you would be wrong, Ally," he countered, placing a Santa hat on top of his head. "I'm always prepared."

"Or obnoxious?" she rolled her eyes at his too-early-for-the-holidays holiday spirit.

"You're not telling me you're a Scrooge, are you?"

"I. Am. Not. A Scrooge!" Ally said, a little loudly, scaring herself in the process. Noticing the stunned look on Austin's face, she quickly backtracked. "Sorry. It's been a long couple of hours..."

"S'all good, Dawson. You can explain it to me later when we're best friends," he nodded as if he were certain that the event would happen, adjusting his hat.

Ally laughed softly, picking up her empty cup and walking towards the door of the store.

"Where are you going?" Austin asked, knitting his brows in confusion.

"I do have a job, Austin Moon," Ally cocked a plucked brow at the man. "We can't all spend our day around endless amounts of coffee," her eyes scanned over the coffee beans and coffee pots and the numerous cups stacked on top of each other, breathing in the sweet aroma of the caffeine. "Despite how much we want to."

Austin chuckled, taking a step towards her. "You're right and I'm sorry. It's silly of me to assume you could do such a thing."

Ally nodded and turned to walk out the door before Austin's voice stopped her.

"Will you be back around this time tomorrow?"

Ally thought it over. Austin was quite nice and he was daringly handsome and very funny. "I might be," was all she said before exiting the store and shooting Austin a flirty smile.

Austin beamed at the spot that the woman once occupied.

_This holiday season sure will be interesting_, Austin thought to himself. _All I gotta do is get her to stick around._


	3. Chapter 3

Ally ran a hand through her already slightly messy hair as she walked through the double doors of Sonic Boom, seeing her two best friends working diligently with a customer, with a polite smile present on the couple's faces.

"Thank you for shopping at Sonic Boom," Trish stated in a friendly tone, handing the customer's change to his hand and waving goodbye. Spotting her brunette best friend, she almost fell over in excitement. "Ally! Dez and I thought about everything that everyone's been saying to you about, you know, finding a dumb boyfriend," her chocolate orbs glanced over at her very own boyfriend apologetically, "and we just wanted to tell you that-"

Ally laughed, cutting off her best friend's ramble of an apology. "It's fine, Trish, seriously. I thought it over, too. You guys probably should be worried. I'm probably going to end up as some, like... crazy old cat lady or something..." she laughed, throwing in a shudder to prove her point.

Dez chuckled softly at his best friend's silly antics. "You're not going to be a crazy cat lady. You seem like the kind of person to maybe have like... a crazy amount of farm animals," he said absent-mindedly, staring off into the distance, before breaking out into a laugh. "I'm kidding, but, seriously, Ally. If you want someone, you'll get him. I'm sure of it."

"Thanks, brother," Ally smiled weakly at her friend, her mind bringing her back to a certain blonde Starbucks employee.

"So, where did you even end up going?" Trish asked, cocking a dark brow at her fellow brunette. "You were gone for almost an hour."

"I just walked over to Starbucks and got a coffee," Ally nodded, sticking to the short version of her story. "I drank my coffee and just thought about a lot of stuff."

Ally was mentally debating with herself over whether Austin was really even worth mentioning at this point. Was there really _anything _about the small conversation the two adults had that was really so intriguing?

Trish gave her friend a solemn nod, although, deep down knowing there was most likely a lot more to the story, but seeing as Ally had just gotten over being annoyed with her, the Latina decided she would bring it up at another point.

* * *

Austin Moon wiped down the stray drips of coffee on the large, brown counter, his mind going back to a certain brunette he had met just a few hours earlier.

There was just _something _about her that he couldn't put his finger on, but he just had the utmost wish to get to know.

That and she seemed to dislike Christmas just a bit. And Austin Moon wouldn't be having any of that. (But mostly because he thought she was really pretty and her hair was really shiny and she smelled really good)

"So, who's the girl?" a voice said suddenly, causing Austin to jump.

"I'm sorry?" Austin threw his now used rag into the bin underneath the counter before turning to face his friend/colleague.

"The girl? I haven't seen you act like this much of a puppy since _maybe _junior year when Kelly Ryan said she'd go to prom with you," Austin's brunette best friend, Jake, laughed as he remembered the memory.

"There is no girl," Austin brushed him off.

He wasn't _necessarily _lying. He didn't really feel anything for Ally. Heck, he just met the girl a few hours ago! He just thought that she seemed like she could use a little holiday joy in her life.

"C'mon, Austin," Jake begged, throwing his hands together to interlock with one another.

Austin rolled his hazel eyes at his friend's ridiculously... stupid antics. "There's no girl, Jake. Now," he turned his attention to his watch, "it's 6:30 on the dot, so, I'm off," he smirked, untying the green apron from behind him. "Have fun with your shift, bro," Austin waved to his friend before sauntering over to the front door.

"Whatever," Jake laughed, rolling his eyes at his friend - laughing partly because Austin was so set on making him believe there was no girl and because Austin honestly thought he had convinced Jake that there was no girl. "See you tomorrow," he bid his goodbyes, waving to his best friend.

Austin had walked all the way to the main exit of the mall before coming up with an entire different plan.

Ally had said that her father owned Sonic Boom and that she worked there. It was barely past 6:45. Perhaps, he thought to himself, Sonic Boom was still open.

Before he could even tell himself that this was such a s_illy _idea, Austin's feet were already taking him to a store that he had never really paid much attention to until now.

In a record of only two minutes (not that he had counted or anything), the blonde barista had found himself right in front of two red bordered doors with red and green garland decorating them. He peeked inside the window and was almost shocked by the amount of Christmas decorations he saw on the inside.

The big Christmas tree. Three stockings hung up on a large, fake fireplace. Presents all wrapped to perfection and sitting underneath the tree. Ribbons and garland bordering almost every free inch of the store.

_For someone who doesn't seem to like Christmas a lot, _Austin thought to himself, _she sure does know how to decorate._

Before he could stop and turn himself around a second time, Austin pulled the doors open and spotted a familiar brunette behind the counter talking to a redhead and curly-haired brunette that stood in front of her.

Austin quietly walked over to the counter, not wanting to interrupt the conversation that was ensuing in front of him, in case the two strangers were customers of sorts.

Much to his despair, the curly haired woman turned around, startled a bit by Austin's presence. "Oh, I'm sorry, sir," she spoke up, noticing the equally as startled expression present on Austin's fair-skinned face.

"Oh, no, it's fine, miss," Austin waved off her apology, politely, of course. "I probably shouldn't have snuck up like that. I didn't mean to interrupt anything, though. I just came to see... Ally," his cheeks turned a shade of pink at just saying the woman's name.

_This is like damn high school all over again_, Austin groaned eternally, remembering the ways he would fall for girls so quickly during his teen years.

The curly-haired woman and the redheaded man standing next to her, who Austin still hadn't caught the name of, turned to face Ally, who's cheek color seemed to resemble Austin's, and smiled suggestively at their friend.

"_Oh_," the redhead said, trying to hold back a laugh. "I see."

Suddenly, it was as if the couple realized that Austin was telling this two strangers and he had no idea who they were or anything of the sorts and that they had no idea who he was.

"Where are my manners? I'm Trish de la Rosa," she smiled, holding out her hand as Austin shook it.

"I'm Austin Moon," Austin grinned, showing off all of his teeth. "It's nice to meet you, Trish."

"Likewise," Trish replied, a knowing grin on her face, earning an eye roll from the woman behind her.

"Hi, I'm Dez," Dez waved excitedly; almost too excitedly, but he couldn't really help it. He had spent the last seven and a half years with pretty much two women. He wasn't going to just let a chance at having a male friend pass him by.

"Nice to meet you, man," Austin smiled, shaking Dez's hand.

Leaning over and whispering - loudly - in Ally's ear, Trish's eyes widen in shock. "Ally, where did you meet this cutie?"

Austin undoubtfully heard and laughed out loud, covering his mouth quickly when he sees a familiar pair of brown eyes flicker over at him.

Ally felt the blood rush faster than ever, looking down at some uninteresting spot on the counter. A few seconds of regaining her composure passed and she looked back up at Austin. "What'd you need, Austin?"

"I... uh," Austin racked his brain for the right words. Well, any words at that moment would have been helpful, really. "Well, um.."

Trish "aw-ed" loudly, finding Austin's stuttering and nervousness just down right adorable.

Finally, Austin came up with what he hoped was a smooth line to impress Ally. "Earlier, when I asked if you would be back at Starbucks at the same time tomorrow... you said you might be. I just wanted a for sure answer, so I can go ahead and make your latte a few minutes before you get there. So, it's ready for ya."

Trish aw-ed again, nodding her head vigorously, as if Austin was asking _her _if she would certainly return to the café again.

Dez looked at Austin like a proud father and Ally could have sworn there were real tears in his eyes.

She looked between the two friends, confused as ever. It wasn't as if Austin was confessing some sort of Romeo & Juliet-esque undying love. He was just asking if she would return to Starbucks the next day.

He was just being a good _friend_.

Right?

Despite her innocent thinking of the situation, Ally couldn't hide the small smile on her face, as she did her best to ignore her friends' reactions to Austin's question.

And she so desperately wished she could say no, because that was the easy way out, wasn't it? With one look at Austin's kind eyes and his dimples, the woman just could not bring himself to let him down.

She nodded, her smile growing larger. "You know what? Yeah. I'll definitely come back around the same time tomorrow. Thanks, Austin."

"Just doing my job," Austin smiled and winked at the brunette, making his way back over to the door. "I guess I'll be going now. I'll see you tomorrow, Ally."

Before he could even make it halfway to the red doors, Trish called out, "Wait! We're just hanging out. And since you're..." _totally and obviously interested in my best friend_, Trish ruled out the obvious and said something a little more innocent and something that was less likely to get her murdered by Ally, "making my best friend's coffee, Dez and I might as well get to know you, don't you think?"

Austin stood in his place, thinking over the offer. "I don't want to intrude on anything," he said, shyly.

"You're not intruding, Austin," Ally finally spoke up, shooting her new friend a small smile. "I know that we agreed to be friends earlier... but I think I'd need to hang out with you a little more so that I can be certain that there's not some serial killer making my lattes."

Austin laughed at the petite girl's joke and made his way back over to the counter. "Fine, you got me. I'll stay a little longer."

"Yay!" Trish clapped excitedly.

"Thank God, another guy to hang out with," Dez said, giving Austin an almost painful high-five.

And Ally just smiled as she watched her friends mingle with her new friend (and her favorite Starbucks employee by far.

_This year, Christmas might not be so bad after all,_ she thought to herself, her eyes not leaving the blonde.


	4. Chapter 4

It was nearing almost midnight by the time Austin Moon had bid his goodbyes to Ally and his two newest friends.

The few hours that the now quartet of friends had spent together had resulted in the telling of interesting stories and a little bit of bonding moments here and there.

In turn, Austin learned that Ally Dawson did not, in fact, just as he had expected, like the Christmas season. For what reason, he was not entirely certain, but he knew that he was determined to find out why and change her mind.

And Ally had learned that Austin Moon completely adored Christmas in the way a small child would enjoy the night of Halloween. And the short brunette wasn't entirely sure how a grown bad in his mid-twenties could love a holiday that was so over-commercialized and obnoxious. Despite not knowing Austin for very long, Ally could have just envisioned him ranting for 20 minutes about how much it disgusted him, but he had done just the opposite and jumped and hollered over how much he _adored _the holiday.

And at exactly 12:02 AM, Austin made his way out the doors of Sonic Boom (not before making sure he had Ally's phone number) with a glowing smile on his face.

As soon as the doors swung shut, Ally's redheaded and curly-haired best friends turned to face her with knowing, mischievous smiles on the faces.

"What?" her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"You totally like Austin!" Trish exclaimed excitedly.

"I totally just met Austin."

"So? Trish and I had just met when we became friends. Now look at us!" Dez yelled, throwing his hands in the air to emphasize his point.

"It's not the same," Ally rolled her chocolate brown eyes, growing annoyed. She wasn't sure what was worse; her friends annoying her about needing a boyfriend or annoying her about her new friend, who happened to be male.

"He's literally perfect for you, Ally," Trish stated, looking like a proud mother.

Dez nodded in agreement, wrapping an arm around his girlfriend's petite frame. "Ally and Austin. Ally Dawson and Austin Moon. Austin and Ally. Austin Moon and Ally Daw-"

"I get it!" Ally shrieked.

_Austin and Ally. _Perhaps she could get used to that.

* * *

Austin had finally pulled into the parking lot of his apartment building at 12:23 AM.

Shutting off the engine of his vehicle, he soaked in his own thoughts for just a few minutes.

Ally Dawson was certainly something else.

She was no Katie Delaney, his girlfriend of senior year. The "popular" girl at his school. Blonde haired and blue eyed. Cheerleader, or something like that. Austin's memory wasn't very good after four years.

Ally Dawson was Ally Dawson. A girl popular among her own small group of friends. Brunette and brown eyes. Majoring in Marine Biology. And that was something Austin could remember.

Austin let his thoughts travel to a few months or so down the road and he found himself thinking of what it would be like to pull up in his car in Ally's driveway; his palms would be sweating with nervousness and he would be wearing a white dress shirt and slacks and a black tie. He would finally get the courage to walk up to her front door and knock quietly, hoping she heard it. He would have a bouquet of a dozen red daisies (because she had told him the day they met that her favorite color was red). Ally would open the door wearing a dress that complemented in all the right ways. And he would give her a shaky, nervous, stuttering mess of a compliment. She would blush and take the flowers and-

Austin shook his head, pushing the thoughts out of his head. He had possibly spent the 20 minute drive from the mall to his apartment building putting too much thought into what a first date with Ally would be like.

And maybe he had been so pathetically... pathetic and somehow related every song on the radio to Ally until he eventually got so annoyed with himself that he slammed the power button on the radio off.

"Get a hold of yourself, Moon. She's just a girl."

And before he could stop himself, he was pulling his phone out of the cup holder beside him, opened his contacts, and clicking on the newest contact, which was now the first name on the list; Ally Dawson.

Clicking the "send a text message" option beneath her name, he quickly began typing before he had the chance to chicken out.

_Soo.. It's me. Austin. I know it's late and you're most likely sleeping or driving home or maybe you're not doing either. You can just reply to this when you wake up or maybe at a red light or when you come to Starbucks tomorrow. (which I hope is still your plan and you haven't gotten sick of seeing me just yet) Or you're not obligated to answer at all, because I'm a weirdo. (Kidding. I'm not a complete weirdo.) So... I'd like to take you out to dinner at some point. I want to get to know you a little better._

And before he could curse himself for probably being too forward, his thumb pushed down hard on the bright green "send" button.

* * *

At Sonic Boom, Ally was still fumbling to find the keys to the store and half listening to Trish and Dez bicker over which _Iron_ _Man _installment was the best one.

Normally, Ally would contribute to such a detailed conversation (sarcasm intended as she had to bite her lip every time one friend mentioned that a certain film was better because "the suits are way cooler") about her favorite film and her favorite superhero and her favorite comic book character, but she was just so sleepy and she just wanted the damn keys so she could just go home.

And as if God had been listening, when she yanked open the drawer beneath the counter for what felt like the millionth time, her keys were sitting right there on top of the papers.

Any other time, the brunette would question the logic of the keys appearing, but she blamed it on her sleep deprivation and her frustrations and grabbed the keys and unplugged the surge protector that had all of the Christmas lights plugged in and it was almost as if her headache had eased with the disappearance of the obnoxiously bright lights.

Just as she began to lock everything else - the last thing to do before she could go home - she felt her phone buzz in her pocket.

Groaning eternally - because really, who the hell tries to contact someone at almost one in the morning - Ally put her small hand in her peacoat and fished out her blue phone, reading an unfamiliar number light up her screen.

Flicking her finger across the screen and opening the text, a blush crept on her cheeks and a smile formed.

_Soo.. It's me. Austin._

And she couldn't help but smile at his name and his lame introduction.

_I would like to take you out to dinner at some point_.

_I want to get to know you a little better._

Ally was certain that with the heat on her face, her cheeks could have caught on fire. "Oh my gosh," she whispered to herself.

"What?" Trish's sudden tentative behavior towards what was going on around her caused the brunette to jump about ten feet in the air. Noticing the faint pink shade on Ally's cheeks and her effort to hide her smile, Trish narrowed her brown eyes. "Who are you texting?"

"Whaaaaat," Ally excused herself awkwardly. "I'm just looking at this old picture of the three of us!"

Trish took a step towards Ally, still suspicious. "Oh, okay," she shrugged, playing along with Ally's charade. And the second Ally relaxed, believing that Trish bought it, Trish's tan hand snatched the mobile device right out of her pale fingers.

"Trish!" Ally shrieked, desperately reaching for the phone.

Trish read quickly, finished reading, then squealed. "Austin asked you out!"

"Aren't you supposed to be 22? Not 15," Ally rolled her eyes, snatching her phone back.

"Austin asked you out?" Dez asked with wide eyes.

"I'd like to take you out to dinner. I want to get to know you," Trish said in a mock male voice, causing Ally to giggle.

"We told you you guys were into each other!" Dez yelled, clapping lightly.

"It's just a friend thing," Ally protested.

Trish scoffed. "You keep thinking that and we're going to head home. See ya soon, lover girl," Trish joked, pulling Ally into a goodbye hug.

"Bye, Ally. Good luck with Austin!" Dez shouted on his way to the door.

And as the couple walked out of the door, Ally's thumbs went to work.

_I'd like to go out to dinner with you. I want to get to know you, Austin Moon. _

* * *

And that night of the first of December, Austin and Ally had never slept better.

Austin fell asleep with a smile on his face, knowing he had a date with Ally Dawson in the near future.

And Ally fell asleep with a grin permanently etched on her face, knowing she had a date with Austin Moon fairly soon. And she was proud of herself for finally accepting a date.

And she had a feeling that she wouldn't be regretting this date.

* * *

**Author's Note: **_Thank you all so much for your great, encouraging comments! It's so great to wake up to your wonderful comments. You all seriously make my day :) _


	5. Chapter 5

Ally was the slightest bit hesitant to return to Starbucks the next day, as promised, to see Austin.

She just didn't want him to get sick of seeing her all the time.

When she had voiced her anxieties, Trish had practically shoved her out the door, yelling things about how she shouldn't be scared to fall for Austin, because he was "literally perfect" for Ally and Ally just needed to take the chance and shut the hell up and go for it.

So, here was Ally, dressed in dark skinny jeans, black boots, and a white coat on her body, walking as slowly as she could to Starbucks, trying to fight off her nervousness.

She and Austin were just friends. Why was she so nervous to see him?

_Maybe because he asked you out on a date last night_, a nagging voice in the brunette's head told her.

She quickly shook it off.

The dinner wasn't meant to be a date. It was two friends getting to know each other better.

At least that's what she kept telling herself.

Reaching the entrance of Starbucks, Ally took a deep breath and entered the green and brown door, her eyes scanning through the small crowd in front of the counter.

In less than a second, she had spotted the familiar blonde and took her place in line.

_Just two friends_, she kept repeating to herself over and over and over and -

"Oh, Ally!" a voice broke her from her trance.

Jumping a little, her eyes wide and a confused expression on her face, she looked up to see that she was in the front of the line and the blonde was steady grinning at her.

"Oh, uh, h-hey, Austin," she mustered out a shy smile, cursing herself for being so lame and so awkward.

Handing her a still warm, small cup, one that she assumed was a caramel latte, the blonde smiled. "As promised," he nodded to himself, accepting the woman's five dollar bill. "Oh, by the way, I get off at 6:30 again tonight. I'll need your address, but do you think 7 is a good time to pick you up tonight?"

Ally's brows furrowed together in confusion. "What's tonight?"

Austin laughed softly to himself. "Our first date, of course."

The twenty-two year old brunette felt the blood rush to her cheeks rapidly. "I... Uh."

_Date. _

"Here," Austin chuckled, handing the woman a pen and a small napkin. "Just write your address on here and-"

"You can pick me up at Sonic Boom or something..." Ally trailed off awkwardly, suddenly finding the ends of her hair more interesting.

"That's silly, Miss Ally," Austin wagged a finger at the petite woman jokingly. "It is a date. It'd be the gentleman thing for me to pick you up at your house."

Rolling her eyes and hoping Austin didn't notice the full-fledged blush on her round cheeks, she quickly scrawled out her address. "Whatever. Where are we going for this-" She couldn't make herself say the word "date", because if it was a date, that meant that they weren't just friends and that meant Ally was going on a real date, and sure, she had thought it a date the prior night, but hearing him say it himself was completely different and a whole different concept. "Where are we hanging out tonight?"

"Tsk, tsk, that part is a surprise, Miss Dawson."

"Austin, I-"

"Would you just agree to this stupid date with him and leave?" an angry voice said behind the small brunette. "Some of us actually have lives to tend to."

Ally bit her lip, embarrassed, all the while, Austin was holding back a laugh.

"Miss, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Austin said in a jokingly stern tone of voice. "You're holding up business, ma'am."

Ally shot Austin a glare, mouthing "fuck you" and stalking off to the doorway.

"I'll see you tonight on our date, Ally!" Austin yelled from his spot behind the counter, causing Ally to walk even faster out the door.

* * *

"Ally, just admit it's a date already," Dez groaned loudly.

It had been almost a full hour since Dez had entered Ally's home. The woman had called him and invited him over, asking if he wanted to hang out. And Dez had thought, "Oh, cool! I get to spend some quality time with one of my best friends".

But he was wrong. Sort of.

All Ally had wanted to talk about was how Austin called it a date and she wasn't so sure it was really a date and how she didn't know how she felt about it being a date.

And all Dez wanted was for Ally to shut up about the stupid date.

"It's not a date!" she yelled, slapping the material of the couch.

"If this is all you wanted to talk about, why didn't you invite Trish over?" Dez queried, picking up a pillow and slamming it into his face.

"You know how she is. She'd be freaking out and trying to plan everything!" Ally protested. "That and she's working today."

Dez threw the pillow across the room. "So what if it is a date? What's so bad about that?"

"You know I don't do relationships," Ally gave her friend a glare, wondering how he could even fathom such a question.

"You do relationships. You just don't do them well," Dez remarked, looking over at his friend.

Ally sighed heavily, not bothering to argue back. He was sort of right, she guessed. She wasn't going to tell him, though.

"I just met Austin. It's a little soon for a date, isn't it?"

"You had just met all those other guys who asked you on dates. Seriously, don't you remember that cashier guy at Kohl's who literally asked you out on a date while he was ringing up your stuff?" Dez reminisced, shrugging as if failing to come to an answer to his own question.

"Well, I- It's just that-"

The redhead clapped his hands together loudly, having heard enough of the entire subject. "Ally, just admit you have a thing for Austin."

Ally huffed. "Did you even hear him last night when he was talking about how much he loved Christmas? How could you even think I'd be remotely interested in someone who loved such an over commercialized, childish holiday?"

Rolling his eyes, Dez threw his head back into the couch. "Why do you even hate Christmas?"

"I just... It's just that- It's over commercialized," she nodded, as if trying to convince herself.

"_Ally._"

Groaning in defeat, Ally put her head in her hands. "It's because everyone always has someone but me, okay? Are you happy?"

Dez's mouth fell open. "Are. You. Kidding. Me."

"Wh-"

"If you want a stupid boyfriend so bad, why are you so freaked out about Austin? Shouldn't you be happy?"

"I don't know... it's just that-"

"I know what it is," Dez yelled excitedly. "All of those other guys that asked you out and did their best to woo you and be with you during Christmas, you just weren't into them as much as they were into you. And you stopped liking Christmas after high school, because while everyone was finding someone who met their reasonable standards, you hadn't met someone who met yours yet. And that made you a little uneasy, upset and maybe even a bit jealous. And I guess you felt like it was being thrown in your face that you hadn't met someone who had met those standards when everyone else did."

"That's not tr-"

Dez cut her off. "You have these impossibly high standards, that I'm assuming you made after high school, because you realized you were becoming older and you would have to settle down soon, and God only knows what these standards are. And no one's ever met them before.

And then Austin came along, and even though you just met him, you already know that he meets these ridiculous standards."

"Dez, what are you even getting at?"

"You're scared because Austin meets these dumb standards of yours and that's never happened before. And everyone knows Ally Dawson is never unprepared. And now you are. And you have no idea what to do about it.

You're scared that maybe Austin's going to do what you do to all those other guys. You think he's going to go on a date or two with you and then just stop answering your calls."

And you're scared of this stupid date with him, because you can't lose the one person who's met these standards, can you?"

"That's not... It's not..." Ally searched her entire mind and she couldn't even one word to defend herself.

"I'm sorry; it's not what?"

"I, uh... I have a _thing _to get ready for... I'll have to call you later," Ally nodded awkwardly, getting off the couch.

Dez shot her a small, knowing smile. "I'll talk to you later, Ally. Have fun on your _thing _tonight," and with that her redheaded best friend exited the living room and walked out the front door.

* * *

It was 6:24pm and Austin was jumping with excitement (and maybe a bit of nervousness, but he wouldn't voice that part, because Austin Moon never gets jealous).

"So, this girl," Jake's voice broke the blonde from his Ally centric thoughts.

"There is no girl," Austin whined. "I thought we went through this last night."

"Yeah, and last night, I might have bought it. But today, I saw you talking to this brunette earlier in your shift... And normally, I wouldn't pay much mind to it, except for the fact that you talked to her for a while and you let her hold up the line."

"S-so?" Austin countered lamely, breaking eye contact with his best friend.

"And it's just that I know you really well, man. And ever since we started working here together, you never let anything or anyone hold up the line, because you like to work fast, right?" Jake asked, suspiciously.

"I dunno what you mean..." Austin said, awkwardly, looking for any kind of distraction for the next - he looked at his watch; 6:26pm - four minutes.

Sensing the stare at the back of his head that his best friend was giving him, Austin broke. "Okay, fine. Her name's Ally and I met her yesterday afternoon when she came in here. And I hung out with her and her friends last night after my shift. Then around like midnight, when I finally got home after hanging out with them, I was a dork and texted her and told her I wanted to take her out to dinner and she agreed to it. And then she came in here earlier and I asked her if seven was good and I called it a date and I think she got a little weirded out by that and-"

"Whoa, whoa," Jake cut his friend off, laughing. "Dude, calm down. You act like it's a crime to be into a girl."

"She's just so pretty and her hair's so shiny and she smells so nice and-" Austin rambled.

"Are you sure you're turning 23 this month? You seem like you might be turning 17 all over again," Jake joked, lightly punching his friend in the arm.

"You're an ass," Austin rolled his eyes, tearing off his apron. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a date to go get ready for. See ya later," the blonde bid his goodbyes and bolted for the nearest main exit.

To say he was a little nervous would be a complete understatement.

* * *

It was almost 7 o'clock and Ally's hands were shaking with nervousness.

Since Austin hadn't revealed where their _thing _was, she wasn't entirely sure if she was under dressed or maybe even overdressed.

She wore a pair of small wedge heels green, lace tunic dress that she had found after hours of fumbling through her closet.

And now she was pacing around her own house trying to keep herself busy.

When the clock struck 6:59, she heard her doorbell ring and she jumped so high that she could have sworn she almost put a hole in the ceiling.

Walking towards the door, Ally smoothed out shirt and picked off random pieces of lint from her jeans and took a deep breath.

_Don't be scared. It's just a date._

Slowly opening the door, Ally came face to face with the blonde she had been anticipating to see and he held a bouquet of red daisies in his hand and a smile on his face.

"Y-you look great."


	6. Chapter 6

"Thank you," Ally smiled, a blush creeping on her cheeks. "Let me just put these in a vase and then get my purse. I'll only be a few minutes, but feel free to come in," she smiled shyly.

Austin nodded, watching Ally walk off behind the wall, into what he had assumed what the kitchen.

When the blonde entered the home, he couldn't help but take notice to the lack of a Christmas tree and any kind of decorations.

He walked through the small hallway in front of him and looked at all of the pictures lined up along the wall.

A picture of a younger Ally, Trish, and Dez garbed in graduation caps and gowns had caught his eye.

Staring at the small photo, he found himself smiling. It was almost a new concept to him that here he was, standing in a beautiful woman's home about to take her out on a date (if it was that, he still wasn't really sure), and he still had so much to learn about her.

And that excited him more than anything.

"Sorry about that," Ally's voice startled the older blonde, breaking him from his thoughts. "So, where is this, uh... Where are we spending the night at?" she shot him an awkward smile, pulling her purse strap over her small shoulder.

Austin suddenly beamed. "That part's a secret, Ally. I think you'll like it, though."

The brunette narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm taking your word for that."

"C'mon," he gestured towards the door, a smile still present on his face.

As Ally walked up next to him to exit her home, she felt a larger hand find its way into hers.

And what startled her the most about it was that she didn't pull away, she just held his hand a little tighter.

* * *

"Austin, we've been on this road for, like, 45 minutes. And there's not even any music playing!" Ally whined from her place in the passenger's seat.

"Stop your complaining, Ally," the blonde jokingly rolled his eyes. "Just push the button and the radio will come on."

Ally shot him a teasing glare before slamming the button on the radio.

"_You don't have to keep on smilling that smile that's driving me wild. When the night is almost over, meet me in the middle of a moonlit Chevy bench seat and do a little bit of country song, hanging on. You don't have to keep on falling like this, but it'd sure be cool if you did..._"

"I love this song!" Austin shrieked excitedly, singing along to the Blake Shelton song that started blaring through the speakers.

Ally stared incredously at Austin. "Country music?"

"I told you that I love it! And besides, it's _Blake Shelton_!" Austin said in a "duh" tone.

Ally rolled her brown eyes. "I thought it was like a 'I listen to it when it's on' kind of like. Not a 'I'm going to blare it on the way to pick up a girl for a date' kind of like!" Ally yelled, flailing her hands.

Austin ignored her jabs at one of his favorite music genres and smiled. "Ally."

"Look, I'm sorry that I'm making fun of your music or whatever. I just think that-"

"Ally," Austin tried again.

"I'm sure Blake Shelton is an exceptional artist. I just think that country music is-"

"_Ally_," Austin said more sternly, catching the brunette's attention.

"Yes?"

"You called it a date."

Ally felt her cheeks burn for what felt the millionth time since she had met Austin. "S-so?"

"Every time we've talked about this, you always stop right before you say date and reword the entirety of the sentence," Austin pointed out, looking at the woman out of the corner of his eye. "And you just called it a date. For the first time."

Ally bit her lip, not sure quite what to say in reply to that.

"You're so cute when you're speechless," Austin turned his head for a second and winked at her, causing her to sink just a little lower in her seat.

Ally sighed heavily, not even bothered by the dumb music playing anymore. _This is going to be a long night._

"Here, put this on," Austin said casually, tossing the younger woman a blindfold. "We're about to pull into the place and it's a surprise."

"Uh, you know you telling me to put this on doesn't really make me feel less tense about you being a possible murderer?" Ally countered, staring at the piece of cloth in her hand with a disgusted look on her face.

"Just put it on, please," Austin gave Ally his best pair of puppy dog eyes to date.

Ally sighed in defeat, agreeing to the task.

A few minutes later, Austin took a turn and shut his car off.

"Are we here? Where are we? What is this place? Is it-" Ally rambled, before she felt a hand cover her mouth.

"Calm down," Austin laughed loudly. "We just have to walk a little bit and then you can take the blind fold off. But not until I tell you to, okay?"

Ally nodded, Austin's hand still over her small mouth.

"Let's go," he said excitedly, taking his hand off her mouth and placing it in her petite hand.

A few steps in a few different directions and Ally smelled a lot of distinct smells all at once, making them difficult to decipher.

"Okay, one... two..." Austin moved to the back of the woman, getting ready to tear off the blindfold. "Three!" he yelled, whipping off the small cloth.

Ally's jaw fell when she saw what was in front of her.

There was an array of Christmas lights, including some small shows with music and lights, a huge bonfire with several people surrounding it, a small building with a sign declaring that they sold the best hot chocolate in the city, the biggest Christmas tree she had ever seen in her life, and another building with a sign that read "Ice Skating Rink".

And when she turned to face the man standing next to her, she saw him beaming down at her.

"Austin, what is all of this?" she asked, turning her attention back to the bright lights and fantastic smells.

"It's this place I found last year, actually. It's called Christmas Town, I believe. Not a really catchy name, but it's the best place to be after Thanksgiving," he stated matter of factly, putting his arm around the small girl's shoulders and directing her towards the hot chocolate shop.

"Austin, I... I don't get why-"

"Why I brought you here for a first date?" he cocked a brow. Before she could reply, he answered himself. "Well, last night when we hung out, you seemed to not particularly like this holiday all too much, I took it upon myself to be the person who gets you to like Christmas!"

Ally opened her mouth to speak as they stopped underneath the canopy of the shop, but Austin stopped her.

"That and I thought you might look really cute under all the bright lights," he shrugged, a shy smile appearing on his face. "And I was right."

Without another word, Austin took the brunette's hand and pulled her into the shop, leaving her speechless yet again.

"Welcome to The Bean," a young blonde girl greeted from behind the counter as the pair entered through the doors. "Anything we can do for you two tonight?" she asked, shooting a flirty smile at Austin.

"I'll take a hot chocolate with extra marshmallows and Ally here," Austin looked down at the shorter woman, "what do you want, babe?"

Ally felt the familiar feeling of a blush on her cheeks as Austin called her "babe". "A hot chocolate with marshmallows, please," she whispered.

Austin smiled, repeating the order to the waitress. He couldn't help but absolutely adore the affect that he so obviously had on Ally. (But he wouldn't deny that she had the same affect on him.)

"That'll be $8.34, _babe_," the blonde girl smiled, tearing a reciept out of the machine and handing it to Austin.

Austin smiled politely at the younger girl, fishing out a ten dollar bill out of his pocket. "You can keep the change," he nodded to her.

"Thank you so much," the girl smiled, putting the money into the cash register. "Is there anything _special _that _I _can do for you?" she asked, her eyes fixating on Austin.

Austin forced a smile, "No, but thank you anyway."

The blonde girl shrunk in her spot. "Oh, well, if you change your mind," she winked, "my number's on the receipt."

Austin bit his tongue and then read the name on the girl's name tag. "Thanks, Sadie."

"Oh, trust me, it's my pleasure," she said, not getting the hint, causing Austin to sigh heavily. "I'm sorry; I didn't get your name," she smiled, pushing two mugs of hot chocolate towards Austin and Ally.

"Yeah," Austin nodded awkwardly, heading off with Ally to a secluded seating area.

Sitting down, Ally gaving Austin a knowing look. "You sure you don't want to go spend your night with her instead?" she asked, a little bitterness dripping off of her words.

"She's, like, what? Sixteen?" Austin asked, shuddering a little bit. When the obvious suddenly hit him, he smirked at the woman across from him. "Ally Dawson, are you jealous?"

Ally's eyes widened. She took a sip of her drink quickly, trying to avoid the question. She shook her head rapidly.

"Riiiight," Austin laughed to himself, taking a sip from his own mug.

"Whatever," Ally rolled her eyes.

"Ally Dawson," Austin said knowingly. "It is okay to be jealous, really. How about I tell you a secret?"

"Shoot," Ally said, a smile playing on her lips.

"Last night, when Trish and Dez were talking about that Elliot guy you dated in high school? I was jealous," Austin admitted, shrugging his shoulders to prove that it wasn't a big deal at all.

"Seriously?"

"Yep."

"I'll tell you a secret," Ally whispered, going along with the small charade. Leaning in closer, she spoke. "Elliot's got nothing on you," and with that she leaned right back in her seat.

"Good to know."

* * *

The couple finished up their drinks and ventured over to the numerous amount of light shows; Austin and Ally both taking a great liking towards the Disney themed shows.

And Austin couldn't but feel his heart swell every time Ally yelled excitedly about something she saw in the small "town" or whenever she gave him _that _look and whispered, "Thanks for bringing me here, Austin."

And Ally wouldn't admit it, but with Austin by her side, she wasn't so sure that she could stay committed to being such a Scrooge. (And how excited he was to show her around the area was undeniably cute, but she would never say that out loud.)

"I can't believe that hot chocolate shop lets you keep the mugs," Ally grinned, staring lovingly at her white mug with "The Bean" printed across it in a decorative font.

"That way, you'll never forget this first date," Austin offered, staring at his own white mug.

Ally had a small smile on her face, whispering, just loud enough for Austin to barely hear it. "I don't think I'll have trouble remembering this date."

* * *

"Austin, is ice skating really such a good idea?" the brunette questioned, shoving her skates on reluctantly.

"Of course it is," Austin said as if it were obvious, as he waited patiently for Ally to finish getting ready.

"I'm a little clumsy and I might fall and I might really hurt myself-"

"You will be okay," was all he said before taking her hand and pulling her onto the ice.

"Austin!" Ally yelled, holding on to Austin's biceps, desperate to steady herself.

"Ally!" he yelled back, a large smile etched onto his face.

She shot him a glare and moved her hold to his hands. "I'm kind of scared."

"Don't be. I'll catch you if you fall."

Ally looked at Austin for a few minutes. And by the look in his eyes, she wasn't so sure that he was talking about skating anymore.

"Austin-"

"Do you trust me?"

"I just met you yesterday."

"Do you trust me, Ally?"

"I-" she stopped herself. "Yeah, I guess so?"

"Good," the blonde nodded, letting go of the small hands that seemed to have found a home in his. "Remember that I'll catch you if you fall."

And with that, he gave Ally a small push and she just... went.

"Austin!" she yelled, doing her best to be angry at him, but she couldn't, because... because she was doing it. She was skating and she wasn't falling. "Austin, I.. I'm doing it!"

"You're doing it!" he yelled back from the other side of the rink, gaining a few stares from the other skaters.

Austin felt a tap on his shoulder and he turned away from the yells and hollers ensuing from Ally's excitement. He saw a little girl who looked no older than 8 next to him. "Yes, ma'am?" he said politely.

"Is that your girlfriend over there?" the little girl asked, pointing in Ally's direction.

"Oh, uh, no, she's not," Austin said bashfully.

"But you look at her the way I look at cookies, so you gotta like her a little bit!" the girl stated matter-of-factly.

Austin couldn't help but let out a loud laugh. "Well... maybe she'll be my girlfriend one day."

"Have ya kissed her yet?"

Austin bit his lip. Kids were really nosy these days. "Nope."

"Well, silly; she can't be your girlfriend if you haven't kissed her yet!" she said as if it were obvious. The little girl noticed the look on Austin's face and she just smiled. "Ya gotta kiss her some day!" and with that she skated away.

And Austin turned his attention away for just a second to see a grinning Ally skating towards him.

And the second she got within two feet from him, she moved her right foot the wrong way and began slipping. "Fuck," she said, a little too loudly, gaining a few angry glares from mothers.

She closed her eyes tight, anticipating the fall. And before she could actually feel the cold, hard surface on her butt, she felt a large hand grab hers and pull her up.

Her brown eyes flung open, staring right into a pair of hazels.

"Told you I'd catch you, silly."

And it was crazy to Ally, how easily Austin found himself a rightful spot in her life. If anyone else had came down to her store and asked her something like Austin had, she would have been a little creeped out. And if anyone else had so easily pulled up the empty chair across from her and started a conversation with her the way Austin had, she would have been a little uncomfortable.

And if anyone else had asked her out on a date after only knowing her for barely a day, Ally would have probably said no.

Hell, she would have said no to anyone regardless.

But there was something about Austin and the way he looked so cute with the hot chocolate mustache on his upper lip and how he sang and danced along to the jolly Christmas songs and the way his hand felt in hers, that made Ally Dawson feel like she was falling in love with the Christmas season all over again.

And she knew that Dez was right with what he had told her earlier that day. Austin certainly bypassed every single one of her standards and expectations. And that left her a little scared, frankly, because no one had ever done that before and she didn't really expect anyone could do that, but Austin had done it so effortlessly. And that left her unprepard and normally, that was terrifying to her.

And falling this hard for someone so fast would normally leave her afraid and confused.

But with Austin, she was anything but scared.

* * *

"It's a shame that we have to leave..." Ally said sadly, a pout present on her pale face.

"I know," Austin slumped his shoulders, upset that his night with Ally had to end so soon. Looking at his watch, though, he let out a laugh.

"What?"

"We got here at about 8 o'clock. We're leaving because they're closing," Austin said as Ally nodded along. "They don't close until one AM. We've been here for, like, five hours."

Ally's brown eyes widened in surprise. Five hours? It barely felt like an hour to her. "It doesn't even seem that long..."

"Right?" Austin nodded, putting his arm around her small frame again, leading her to the exit of the "town".

"Austin," Ally began, causing the older man to stop in his tracks.

"Yeah?"

"I...," and at first Ally had thought she was going to Austin just how she felt. That she really did enjoy herself tonight and she thought that maybe, if he spent the Christmas season with her, she would love the holiday and that she wanted to have more dates with Austin. But she chickened out and just blurted out what came to mind. "I had a lot of fun tonight."

And she mentally slapped herself a good one hundred times, because what she said wasn't necessarily terrible, it was just so far from what she wanted to tell him.

But the look in Austin's hazel eyes told Ally that he knew what she wanted to say. And he just looked at her, smiled, nodded, and said, "Yeah, I did, too."

Just as they began to walk away and trek back to Austin's vehicle, a small voice halted them once more.

"Excuse me," a familiar voice to Austin said to them as they turned around.

"Well, hi again," Austin smiled, kneeling down to the child's height.

"Hi," she said with a sly smile on her face. "You two are standing underneath a mistletoe!" she said, grinning, pointing up above the two young adults.

"Oh, I, uh..." Ally stuttered not really sure what to say.

Austin thought the possibilities over. He wanted to kiss her, he really did. He just didn't want to scare her away or be too forceful and he certainly didn't want to say "So, I know this is our first date and I totally just met you yesterday afternoon, but I think you're really great and really pretty and really nice and really funny and smart. And I kind of want to put my mouth and your mouth and kiss it, you know, but only if that's totally cool with you" because that was a lifetime guarantee of creeping her the fuck out.

"My mama says it's Christmas tradition to kiss underneath the mistletoe," the little girl shrugged. "And you can't break tradition!"

Austin rose back up to his normal, towering height, staring at Ally questionably.

And it's as if Ally understood him without words, because she nodded and whispered. "She's just a little girl..." she said, looking up above her.

Austin knew better. He had a good idea of what the little girl was trying to accomplish, but of course, he certainly wasn't going to tell Ally that.

He nodded.

"So, should we...," and before the brunette could finish her question, she was cut off by a pair of lips on hers.

It took her a few seconds, but Ally responded almost immediately to Austin's lips on hers.

Bringing his hand up to her hair, Austin moved the younger woman's body closer to his, tangling his hand in her caramel waves, feeling her smile against his lips.

And Austin could have sworn this was one of the best things that could have happened to him. And maybe he was over exaggerating, but hell, her lips just felt so _right _on his.

And when they pulled apart, the little girl was gone and it was just the two of them.

Blushing like crazy, Ally mustered up a smile. "Well, that's, uh... That's a really good tradition," she said lamely.

Austin nodded, already missing the feeling of Ally's lips. "A great tradition."

As they turned to begin their journey back to the vehicle, Austin took notice of something that was rather important.

And he also took notice of the fact that Ally had looked above them after she had proposed that they go along with the little tradition for the sake of the little girl.

There was no mistletoe above them.

And Ally knew that.


	7. Chapter 7

Austin walked with Ally up to the familiar front porch and he stood in front of her, shoving his hands into his pockets. "So..."

"So," Ally said, a smile still present on her face.

"I had a lot of fun tonight, Ally," Austin beamed. "More fun that I've had in a while. And I'm..." he stopped himself. He could tell her how he felt, but it was the first date and he surely didn't want to seem creepy. "I'm really glad that I got to spend tonight with you."

She shot him a small smile. "Me too, Austin."

"But before I leave," the familiar smirk found its way to his face again. "I have to point out something that I noticed tonight that I found to be particularly interesting."

Ally crinkled her brows. "Okay."

"When the little girl told us that we had to kiss, because we were under mistletoe and that was Christmas tradition..." Austin trailed off slowly, searching for some kind of emotion in Ally's big brown eyes.

Suddenly, the brunette felt her cheeks get red-hot.

Austin took note of the blush, only causing him to smirk even more, driving Ally insane. "You looked up and told me that she was just a little girl, so we had to go along with it..."

_He thinks I'm weird. He's going to tell me goodbye now and never talk to me again, because I'm a weirdo. _Ally felt her thoughts going ninety miles an hour.

"And there was no mistletoe."

"Well, I mean, uh.. It's just that, um... She said that and I k-"

Austin laughed loudly, cutting off Ally's rambling. "Do I make you nervous?"

"And I- what?" Ally stared at the man in front of her incredulously. How could he even think such a thing? (Even though it was terribly true)

"Do I make you nervous?" he repeated, his expression not faltering.

Ally sighed heavily. She didn't want to admit it, because, really, how embarrassing? But the way he was looking at her and the way he looked under her dumb porch light... she knew that he already knew the answer to his question and there was no sense in denying it.

"More than I'd care to admit at times..." Ally shrugged.

Austin moved a step closer to the brunette in front of him. "Why's that?"

Ally breathed in the scent that followed with Austin's move. She stammered, desperately searching for words that wouldn't make her look like a fool. "I... you just..." _Wow. Good going, Dawson_, she thought to herself, mentally rolling her eyes. "It's stupid," she settled with.

"I doubt that," he moved closer.

"It is. You'll think I'm a moron," she protested, trying to look anywhere but at the hazel eyes in front of her.

He moved again. This time, he was directly in front of her, leaving little to no space between them. "Try me."

"You're... you're not at all what I expected, Austin Moon."

He smiled down at the petite brunette next to him. "I hope that's a good thing."

"A very good thing. It's almost a little scary," she admitted, mentally scolding herself for being so open about all of this, when she had sworn to herself all night that she wouldn't let herself do this.

"How so?" he queried, his voice almost inaudible.

"It's just that... I don't do rela-," she cut herself off, racking her brain for a different word. "I don't do... things like this very well. And these... things.."

Austin stopped her. "You don't have to be scared, Ally. I don't do things like this," he winked at her, "very well, either. But I'm willing to try to have a thing if you are."

She smiled to herself, taking in the blonde's words. "What exactly is this thing, though? I might be a little confused."

"I think I might be able to help clarify it for you," he smirked at the brunette.

"How-"

Before she could finish her question, she was cut off by a pair of slightly familiar lips on hers.

His lips moved feverishly, scared she might change her mind and push him off.

It took Ally a second, just like it had during their first kiss, but she kissed back just as desperately, wanting to savor everything about his lips.

His hands went to her hips, bringing her closer to his body, and her arms wrapped around his neck.

Ally smiled into the kiss, tasting the hot chocolate he had just drank and the peppermints he had popped in his mouth one after the other on the car ride back to her house.

And Austin smiled against the brunette's lips because, well... he was kissing Ally!

And not just some lame "There's mistletoe oh, ho, ho" kiss (despite the fact that there was no mistletoe, but he had thought there was, so).

It was a real kiss. A kiss he initiated. A kiss she eagerly returned.

It was her who had pulled away first, keeping her arms around the blonde's neck, beaming up at him.

Pushing a stray hair out of her pale face, Austin couldn't even try to fight the smile on his face. "I hope that clarified everything for you."

"It... yeah, it did," Ally nodded, a shy smile playing on her lips.

"Glad I could help," he joked, leaning in to peck her lips lightly.

* * *

"What?!" Trish shrieked at the news her best friend has just dropped on her. "You kissed him?! Twice?!"

"Yeah..." Ally said bashfully, twirling a piece of hair around her finger.

She felt like she was in high school all over again and she was pining after Dallas Whatever-His-Last-Name-Was in the eleventh grade.

But it wasn't Dallas Whatever-His-Last-Name-Was. It was Austin Moon.

And Ally couldn't have been more satisfied with that alone.

"So, you guys are going out now? Like, boyfriend/girlfriend?" Trish asked, leaning across the Sonic Boom counter, desperate for every single detail.

Ally let out a giggle. "Trish, we're adults. It's not high school... But, I dunno..." Ally trailed off before retelling the story of Austin's offer to clarify exactly what they were.

And despite how much she had enjoyed his supposed clarification, it actually didn't clarify much.

Sure, she knew that Austin liked her.

But did he want to date her? And be her boyfriend?

Or was she just kind of there so that he had someone to spend time with during the holidays?

Trish shrugged at the end of Ally's story. "He's obviously into you, but, I mean, we called that the first day. I guess, just take it slow until you know you want to be official. And that you want labels, you know? You don't want to rush into it and regret it."

"Why would I regret it?" Ally asked, a little offended.

"Ally, I know you. And I know you tend to make rash decisions quickly and then regret it shortly after. I also know that Austin's different from all those other guys, though," Trish gave her friend the benefit of the doubt. "But, still. Take it slow. You don't want to do anything too potentially damaging just yet," she teased.

"Oh, shut up," Ally laughed, playfully hitting her Latina friend in the shoulder.

* * *

Dez took a detour on his way to Sonic Boom and entered Starbucks, having a tiny craving for a mocha.

The only reason he had really even come to the mall that day was because Trish had texted him (in all caps, at that) that there was "MAJOR AUSTIN AND ALLY NEWS" and he needed to hurry up and get down to the store.

But he wanted a mocha, so the "major" news would just have to wait just a few more minutes.

He entered the café and was greeted by a familiar face. "Sup, Dez," Austin smiled from behind the counter. "What can I get for ya today?"

"Tall mocha will all for this guy," the redhead pointed to himself, clarifying.

"I'll get right on it," Austin nodded, turning to begin making the coffee.

The café was basically empty and Austin was the only one working at the time and he was grateful. (It gave him time to think about the night before and about kissing Ally)

"So, a certain brunette's best friend tells me that there's "major news" about the intriguing Austin and Ally story," Dez said casually, getting a little eager to know the news.

Turning around and handing Dez his drink, Austin smiled shyly. "You could say that."

"Well, what is it?" Dez asked, bouncing up and down in his spot.

"Well, I dunno... we kissed yesterday. Twice. And I just, man... I really like her," Austin blushed, feeling those stupid butterflies in his stomach at just the thought of Ally. (What was he? A girl?) "And I mean, I know she likes me now... I just don't really know what _we_ are," he confessed his fears.

Dez smiled like a proud father, before advising Austin. "The best piece of advice I can give you about Ally is to just take it slow for a little while. She doesn't really do relationships that well and you kind of scare her a bit, truth be told," he shrugged.

Austin's eyes widened in fear. "I scare her? What?"

"No, no, no, no," Dez immediately backtracked, cursing himself for his stupid phrasing. "You scare her in a good way. Like, she likes you a lot and that's scary, you know?"

"Oh!" Austin felt the weight of the world disappear from his shoulders. "Okay, that I can deal with.. So, just... take it slow?"

"Yep," the redhead nodded. "You can take her out on as many dates you want - by all means, take her out every night if you want. Just don't jump into relationship-y stuff until you're ready and she's ready and blah, blah, blah."

Austin chuckled to himself. "Thanks, man. Pretty good advice you got there."

"Austin," Dez said sincerely, making the tone of their conversation serious. "I've known Ally for a really long time and I've seen some of the guys she's dated and been interested in over these past years..."

Austin nodded.

"And it's just... Even though you guys have only been on one date and everything and none of this is really guaranteed; as one of Ally's best friend, I'm really glad she met you."

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **_I don't really like this chapter all that much, but I hope you guys do. If you don't, I promise the next one will be even better. Anyways, thank you all so much for your feedback and your support and heck, I just love you all so very much. You all make me a very, very happy person._


	8. Chapter 8

It had been a week and Austin had continued taking Ally out on dates and despite her hesitation at first, she could not deny that she was having the time of her life with the blonde.

They hadn't kissed since their first date, and to say that bothered Austin just a bit would be a lie. He wanted to kiss her again, but he had to keep reminding himself of Dez's words - take it slow. _You scare her._

And Ally wanted to kiss Austin just as much, but she was too scared and he was too careful around her. And she knew that one of her friends had probably spoken to the blonde barista and said something to him about her fragileness.

But Ally didn't want Austin to be careful. She wanted him to be reckless and crazy.

She just wanted _him_.

But now it was December 11 - two weeks until Christmas. Every time that Austin walked into Ally's cozy home, he always took notice that even as time went on, she still never had a Christmas tree in her house.

So, on December 11, Austin Moon was going to change that.

"Austin, where are we even going?" Ally whined from her seat on the passenger side of Austin's vehicle. "It's 7am!"

"Ally," Austin whined in a mock tone. "I told you it's a surprise!"

"Better be a damn good one if I had to get up at 6am for this."

"It _is_," the blonde rolled his hazel eyes. "Now, stop whining. You're cuter when you're being nice to me and not complaining."

It was the brunette's turn to roll her eyes. "I hate you."

"No, you don't," he chuckled, finally pulling into a slightly familiar parking lot.

"Austin, what the heck is this?" Ally crinkled her brows. "This is an empty parking lot... with just trees."

"If you knew what it was, why'd you ask?" Austin countered, shooting the petite woman a look, making her giggle.

"I mean, why are we here?"

"We're gonna buy a Christmas tree!" he exclaimed like a small child. "If you actually looked around, you'd see that sign," he pointed to a large white banner.

"A Christmas tree?" the shorter girl shot the blonde a look. "You already have a Christmas tree, Austin."

He chuckled. "No, silly; we're buying you a Christmas tree!"

Her eyes widened. Buying her a what?! "Austin, that's completely unnecessary."

"Nope," he popped the "P". "It kills my Christmas mood when I walk into your house and there's no tree! So, today, we're buying you a real Christmas tree!" he bounced like a child.

Ally sighed heavily. This man was going to be the death of her and she was certain of that. "Austin, I don't need a tree. It's two weeks until Christmas; it's pointless."

He laughed again, leaning over the center console, his face inches from hers. "You're so cute when you're being stubborn," he said and then lightly pecked her lips.

Ally didn't even have time to react before the familiar feeling of his lips disappeared. And Austin just had that stupid smirk on his face that drove Ally absolutely crazy.

"Come on, let's go!" he yelled excitedly, practically leaping out of the car.

She huffed, swinging the car door open and making note to slam it when she exited the car.

"Don't be mad, babe," Austin pleaded, throwing his arm around her shoulders once they were next to each other.

And as much as Ally wanted to be mad at him, as soon as the word "babe" left his lips, she felt those stupid butterflies in her stomach and the familiarity of the heat rushing to her cheeks.

Leaning down so that his mouth was right on her ear, Austin whispered, "You're so cute when you blush," causing a chill to run down the small girl's spine.

And Austin just smiled to himself as the brunette pursed her lips, refusing to say anything.

He just smiled and smiled because he loved that he could drive this girl absolutely crazy and she had the same effect on him.

* * *

"What about this one? It's beautiful!" Ally jumped up and down pointing to a tree that had to have been the height equivalent of two of her.

Austin laughed loudly. They had been walking around the area for almost an hour. All because Ally fell in love with almost every tree she saw.

And it was cute, Austin could admit. The way that she had protested so much to the activity when they had arrived, but now she was bursting at the seams with excitement.

"Are you sure, Ally?" he cocked a brow. "You've said that about the last, like, 36 trees."

Her brown eyes fell to the ground, a bashful smile playing on her pink lips. She fixed her gaze back on the man in front of her. "I'm sure about this one. I love it."

Austin smiled. "Okay, let's do it."

Austin called an employee over to the tree and paid for the large tree - despite Ally's protest to him doing so - and in only 20 minutes, the tree was sitting in the bed of Austin's pick up truck and ready to go back to Ally's house.

* * *

They were sitting in the car and Austin was driving to the nearest Waffle House, because when he had picked Ally up that morning, he swore to her he'd make up for making her wake up entirely too early that day.

And Ally didn't know what had come over her, but when Austin rested his right hand on the center console, she reached over and laced her fingers through his.

And in that moment, she was content. Absolutely blissful. Her life was more than just a little okay and a lot more than decent in that moment and she owed it all to a certain blonde who was sitting next to her.

The car ride ended shortly after, much to Ally's despair, but what confused her the most was that Austin didn't get out of the vehicle and he didn't take his hand back.

"Are you okay, Austin?" Ally asked, cautiously, scrunching her nose and running one of her small fingers over Austin's large hands. "You seem a little-"

"There's something I want to do," he stated abruptly, bringing his gaze up to her chocolate-brown eyes. "And I want you to promise me you're not going to get scared when I do it."

Ally's brain began going ninety to nothing. "Are you, uh, going to kill me or something? Because I know-"

"I'm not going to kill you."

"Okay... then what are you going to do?"

Without responding, Austin moved his hand from Ally's grasp and cupped her face, bringing her face closer to his and she looked as if she was about to say something, but before any words escaped her mouth, his lips captured hers and whatever it was that she was about to say had all been forgotten as soon as she felt the familiarity of his lips on hers.

And she wrapped her arms around his neck, begging him to move closer to her - praying that something would take that stupid center console and possibly throw it out the window.

Austin wanted just the same amount of closeness with the brunette, but the God forsakencenter console was in his way and he had never hated his truck more than he did in that moment.

Ally gasped as she felt Austin pull away, breathing a little heavily and his eyes still shut.

"I.. I'm sorry," Austin murmured, but he wasn't really sorry at all and Ally knew that.

"Don't be." She shot him a small smile.

"Are you scared?"

Only three little words. Three words that caught Ally Dawson off guard and made her brain go into overdrive.

And she thought of everything the blonde had brought to her in the few weeks she had known him.

He gave her hot chocolate mustaches and mistletoe kisses. He had given her a big, dumb Christmas tree that she secretly loved, but would never admit it to him. He gave her nice, warm caramel lattes every morning for free.

Austin Moon had given Ally Dawson back the Christmas joy that she had lacked for so many years.

And her mind wandered to Dez's words earlier that month about herself being unprepared and that was a new concept to her. And, deep down, she knew he was right.

But she also knew that Austin Moon no longer frightened her.

"I don't need to be," was all she said before crashing her lips on to his.


	9. Chapter 9

**In which Austin misses Ally and Ally misses Austin but is far too scared to tell him**.

* * *

It had been a week and two days.

Nine days.

Five days until Christmas.

December 20th.

It had been nine days (not that he was counting) since Austin had heard more than two words from Ally.

She rarely answered his text messages. She never picked up when he called her.

He wasn't quite sure what he had done wrong. After things got a little heated in his car, they had continued on with their breakfast date and everything was just the same. Or so he thought.

The next day, she hadn't showed up at Starbucks at her usual time, but had showed up before his shift had started.

She wasn't in Sonic Boom when he had stopped by, either. It was just an older man, who the blonde had assumed was the woman's father.

And so here he was, twenty-two years old, wiping up a coffee spill and thinking about a certain brunette a pathetic amount.

"Dude, what's got you so spaced out?" Jake's voice broke the blonde from his train of thought. "Is this about that girl, Ally?"

Austin signed heavily, not verbally responding.

Maybe whatever it was they had shared during the beginning of the month was nothing more than a fling Ally.

But Austin couldn't help but feel as if it was so much more than that. And it wasn't fair that he was left wondering what had happened.

"I just don't know what I did."

"Have you ever thought that it wasn't you? That maybe it's something to do with her," Jake shrugged his shoulders, clocking out from his shift and leaving Austin to himself.

And truth be told, Austin had never thought of that.

But it made no sense because she was the one who said she had no reason to be scared. But here she was, running away from what was obviously there.

And it had only been three weeks since they had met, but Austin's insides felt like they could explode when she gave him that shy smile or when her brown eyes widened in confusion or when she blushed at his lame attempts to woo her.

He was head over heels for this girl and maybe he could see why she would be so scared.

Knowing that, though, he still texted her anyway. He still hoped for a reply.

_I miss you. And it hasn't been long, but I can't help but wonder if you miss me too._

* * *

Ally let out a defeated sigh as she flicked open the newest message in her phone's inbox.

She did miss Austin, despite it only been a week and a few days. But she was also scared, so naturally she hid away.

Normally, when she ran from men, they didn't chase for long, but Austin was going strong and that was new to her.

She hesitantly replied to the text, her fingers shaking slightly.

_I miss you too_.

She was risking a lot by hitting the large, green send button. She was risking the future state of her sanity and her reputation as someone who was independent and could stand alone.

And she did like to think she could stand alone, but when it came to Austin, she he never wanted to be alone. And to her, that just wasn't fair.

"Ally?" a voice broke the silence that had fallen around the brunette, where she sat alone in the upstairs room, mindlessly playing a few tunes on her piano.

She looked up, only to be faced with her curly haired best friend. "H-hey."

"You want to tell me why you're doing this to yourself?"

"Doing what?"

"Avoiding Austin like he killed your family or something," Trish let out a humorless laugh. "Ally, you're driving yourself insane doing this. Just admit you have feelings for him and be with him."

"Trish, I..." Ally trailed off, not sure what excuse to use.

"No excuses, Dawson." Trish shook her head at her best friend. "This isn't high school anymore. And these aren't just your feelings anymore, either. Austin likes you just as much as you like him and he's willing to give it all, but you're still cowering. Why?"

Ally's eyes flickered down to the keys on the piano. "I'm scared."

"Of what?"

"I've always had these impossibly high standards that no one ever met and that's how I kept my guard up... and Austin meets those dumb standards. And I keep waiting for him to mess up so I can leave..." Ally put her head in her hands. "But he just keeps giving me reasons to stay."

"Then stay! It's that easy, Ally. He wants you. You want him. Let him want you," Trish practically yelled at her brunette friend. "Stop avoiding him. Call him back. Answer his texts. Prove that you want to be with him, too."

And when Ally didn't reply, Trish sighed loudly and muttered, "If you don't fix this, I'm not going to feel sorry for you when you're alone." And with that the Latina ambled out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

And Ally wanted to say Trish was being harsh and unreasonable, but she knew she wasn't and perhaps that was what hurt the most.

* * *

Austin was getting annoyed. A little with himself and a little with Ally. With himself because he had let himself fall for this girl so fast. And with Ally because she could say she missed him, when she was the one who had been avoiding him like the plague.

And as his fingers shook with nervousness, he typed out a reply to her slightly ambiguous message.

_Then prove it._

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Maybe not my best work, but I hope you enjoy it. And sorry that my Christmas story has gone into January, haha. I love you all and you all make a happy kid.**


	10. Chapter 10

It was another two days before Ally had finally conjured up the courage to face Austin again.

December 23rd.

It's was two days until Christmas and Ally was a little worried that she had ruined the man's holiday joy.

Despite her hesitation, her feet had still led her to the doorway of the familiar cafe.

Now all she had to do was open the door, go in, and talk to Austin. That simple.

Except that it wasn't that simple and she didn't understand why not.

She knew what she felt for the blonde was real and she had no doubt about her feelings, regardless of how terrifying they were.

She took a deep breath, shoving the door open before she could chicken out.

When she opened the door, it was almost immediate how quickly she met the familiar brown eyes.

And it hurt her how quickly he looked away from her, but she couldn't blame him, really.

She talked to him every day for approximately three weeks and then she just dropped him and then innocently told him she missed him, like it was meant to fix everything.

And maybe a piece of her did think that it would solve all the problems.

But when he sent back "Then prove it" she knew she had messed up and that she had to fix it. Because after two days of thinking about nothing about the blonde, she knew she couldn't let herself let him get away.

So, she stood in the short line, patiently trying to get her thoughts in order. Where was she even supposed to start?

Before she knew it, she was face to face with the blonde and it was like her entire body shut down.

"What can I get for you today, ma'am?" Austin asked, an annoyed look in his brown orbs.

Ally let out a sigh. He was mad and it was evident and he wasn't going to bother to try and disguise his hurt. "Austin, I'm sorry."

"Sorry that you led me on? Or sorry that you avoiding me for a week and a half?" he smirked not bothering to fix her order, even though he knew what it was going to be.

"For all of it. I was scared and stupid. And I thought maybe you'd give me a reason to leave," she confessed, her heart beating so loud that she was sure he could hear it on the other side of the counter. "Like maybe you picked your nose when no one else was looking. Or you used some type of disgusting cologne. Maybe even that you secretly had four wives in another country. Or-"

He cut her off, stifling back laughter. "What's your point? You're not the only one around here with a job, you know," he remarked, referencing her words from the first day they had met, which seemed centuries away.

She smiled shyly. "You kept giving me reason after reason to stay."

Austin let out a sigh of defeat. "I'm so sick of pretending, Ally."

"Pretending?" she knitted her brows in confusion.

"Pretending there's not something between us," he gestured between the two of them. "When we both know that there is."

"Austin, I-"

"No, let me talk. You had your turn, it's mine now," the blonde said sternly, ignoring the line of customers behind the brunette. "I want to drink hot chocolate with you all year round. I want to see you blush when I say something stupid in March! I want to bicker with you when you try to tell me you don't want to do a certain thing, but then see your face light up when I take you there anyways.

"I want to go Easter egg hunting with you, as well as Christmas light seeing. I want to go swimming at the beach in the summer," he rambled until he thought he had gotten his point across to the brunette. "Ally, I want to buy you Christmas trees for a really long time."

And she laughed, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Oh, come on, you have to be with him after that!" A customer shouted from behind the pair, causing the two to erupt in giggles.

"You're not at all what I expected, Austin Moon," the brunette stated, remembering their first date and how everything had changed between them so quickly.

"I hope that's still a good thing," he smiled, leaning over he counter.

"The best thing."

"Is it still scary?"

Ally exhaled deeply. Was she scared? Not really. She felt safe. At home. And she owed it to the blonde across from her, who's face was just inches from hers. "I don't think so."

"That's relieving to know, I guess," he chuckled, shrugging, her eyes falling to her pink lips.

"So... About that Easter egg hunt?" she asked, giggling softly.

And Austin smiled. A real smile. "I thought you'd never ask," and he closed the space between them crashing his lips on hers, relishing in the feeling of being so close to her again.

And they smiled into the kiss as the group of customers and a few employees whooped and hollered and whistled. And they laughed simultaneously as they heard the voices of Trish and Dez yell, "Finally!"

And Austin shot his best friend a thumbs up, with his lips still on Ally's, as he heard Jake shout a lame, "Good job, Austin!"

And Ally was content and Austin was splendid.

Maybe Christmas wouldn't be so bad after all.

* * *

**One more chapter!**


	11. Chapter 11

December 25th.

Christmas Day.

It was roughly 7:30 A.M. when Ally heard abrupt knocking on her front door.

Jolting awake, her mind began racing. Was something wrong? Who would need her so desperately this early?

She adjusted her pajamas and took the stairs two at a time, almost flying straight through the door.

"Hello? Is everything-" she came to a halt in her statement. A familiar brown eyed blonde was standing in her doorway with a box wrapped in silver paper in his hands. "Austin Moon, this better be good." She narrowed her eyes at the suspicious man in front of her.

"Merry Christmas, baby!" Austin exclaimed, placing the box on the side table next to the door and wrapping his arms around his newly proclaimed girlfriend.

He liked the sound of that.

_Girlfriend_.

Austin and Ally.

Boyfriend and girlfriend.

And Ally quickly returned he gesture, wrapping her skinny arms around his torso, breathing in his scent.

He smelled like hot chocolate and a fire place. A smell that she had learned to absolutely adore.

And she liked the sound of that.

_Baby_.

"Merry Christmas, you big dork," Ally grinned, her face in his chest.

"Is that a way to talk to your boyfriend, Miss Dawson?"

Her insides exploded at the sound of the word.

Twenty five days ago, if you had told her that the flirty blonde barista at Starbucks was going to turn her whole world upside down and change her perspective on things, she would have laughed straight in your face.

And it was never voiced aloud that they were boyfriend and girlfriend, but Ally could tell that he was all hers by the way he looked at her. Just as Austin knew that Ally was all his by the way she would laugh, shake her head, and whisper, "You're an idiot," before pecking his lips when he shamelessly hit in her.

"Sorry, I'm new at the girlfriend thing. It might take a while for me to be good at it," she smiled sheepishly, pulling away from the hug and walking towards her new, decorated Christmas tree.

"I'm willing to wait," Austin smiled, a small blush present on his cheeks. "I could even help you out."

Ally cocked a brow at the blonde, leaning over and picking up her own wrapped box. "How so?"

"I could give you some go-to pointers," he shrugged, fidgeting with the box that was in his hands once again. "Like, for example, a good girlfriend would kiss me right now."

And Ally couldn't fight the small smile making its way onto her lips. She shook her head slightly, taking a step towards Austin. "You're an idiot," she said just above a whisper, and kissing him softly.

Austin felt those dumb butterflies that only Ally could make him feel and he kissed her back. "Yeah, yeah."

"So, I may have bought you a present yesterday," Ally smiled, hiding the box behind her back. "Maybe."

"Ooh! What'd ya get me?" Austin bounced up and down on the balls of his feet excitedly.

"I think you'll love it!" she smiled shyly, hoping her plan worked without fail. She handed him the small box in anticipation.

He quickly ripped off the paper, his excited expression leaving his face and being replaced with a confused one. "...Socks!"

She giggled. Her plan had worked. "That was a decoy present!" she shouted, laughing at herself. "You should've seen your face! I got you so bad!"

And Austin smiled at the giggling brunette, whispering, "Yeah, you got me."

Ally smiled, because she knew what he meant by the look in his eyes. That she really did have him. He was all hers.

"Ready for your real present?" she queried, getting up before he could reply.

"I dunno. I'm digging these fuzzy socks," he chuckled.

"You can keep them, too, I guess, but," she handed him a bigger box, "this one's much cooler."

He ripped open the box with the same amount, if not more, speed than before. When he opened the box, he couldn't help but laugh loudly at what he came to face.

Inside the box was a copy of The Proposal, a bag of pancake mix, a bottle of maple syrup, a Paranormal Activity box set, and a copy of Blake Shelton's CD, Based On A True Story.

"You remembered all of this stuff?" he asked, appalled that someone could remember such trivial information.

"Well, yeah..." she said bashfully.

"I... Wow," he breathed, a large smile etched onto his face. "You are... You're incredible, Ally Dawson."

"I try," she laughed nervously.

Austin leaned over the couch and planted his lips on hers, running his tongue across her bottom lip, desperate to just taste her lips all the time.

She pulled away, blushing.

"Time for your gift, Dawson," he brought the box in front of her face. "And I'm not mean, so this is the real gift. No decoys."

She carefully opened it, nearly falling off the couch and what was in the box. Laughing whole heartedly, she laughed at the contents.

A copy of The Avengers, Iron Man 3, an Iron Man comic book. But what was beneath all of those things made her breath hitch in her throat.

A silver cuff bracelet stared back at her and when she picked it up and read the quote on the inside, she laughed a teary laugh.

"Mine would be you," she read aloud.

"I thought it would be, you know... sweet, since on our way back from breakfast that one day, I played it and you went on about how you actually liked that song and how you would download it when you got home and think of me when it played..." he laughed, feeling lame and all sorts of cheesy.

"Austin," she laughed, a single tear ran down her cheek.

"Oh, God, do you hate it?" he asked anxiously.

"No, no, no!" she quickly protested. "Austin, I love it."

And the smile came back to his face. So, he kissed her.

"This has turned out to be a... wild Christmas this year, huh?" he asked, resting his forehead against hers.

"Yeah," she whispered, not taking her eyes off of his lips. And as she leaned in to kiss him once more, he pulled away, smirking. "Aus-," she began to protest.

"No more kisses, Ally. Yesterday, I believe you promised me Christmas cookies," he wagged a finger at her, feeling satisfied with himself. "No kisses until there are no cookies left."

"You're mean," she stuck her tongue out at him. "But fine," she trudged into the kitchen.

The older man smiled, chasing after her.

"Sugar cookies or peanut butter?" Ally asked, eyeing him carefully to make sure he didn't see her slip something out of the drawer beside her.

"Both!" he yelled childishly.

She laughed, placing a few cookies on a plate and handing it off to him. "Here."

He mumbled out something like a thank you while shoving a handful of cookies into his mouth.

"You're disgusting."

"You love me," he rolled his eyes, continuing to shovel the cookies into his mouth.

The brunette giggled softly, walking away for a second, leaving the man alone in the kitchen.

After a few seconds, she stood in the frame of the hallway that led to the living room. "Austin, come here for a second!"

He furrowed his brows, swallowing quickly and putting his plate down. Jogging towards her location, he shouted back. "What is it?"

"Oh, would you look at that? We're under the mistletoe again!" she snapped her fingers, a gleam in her eyes, making Austin blush.

Austin laughed. "The deal was after all the cookies were gone, I'd kiss you."

Ally crossed her arms, a stern look on her face. "Rules are rules, Austin Moon."

"How about this," he licked his lips. "I'm going to take your word and believe that there is a mistletoe above us. And I'm going to kiss you. But when I get done and there's no mistletoe, you're mine, Dawson," he tried to sound threatening, but the smile on his face gave it away.

"I'm okay with being yours," she said bashfully.

And he couldn't take it anymore. She was just so cute and he was head over heels for her. He leaned down and captured her lips with his own and put his hands on her hips, pulling her closer.

"Ally..." he whispered, but stopped himself. He didn't know what to say, he just knew he felt this certain way about this brunette and he didn't know if there were words in his vocabulary to describe how she made him feel.

She pulled away, a small smile playing on her lips.

And he broke his stare for a few seconds, keeping true to his previous words.

Spotting the mistletoe, he laughed inwardly before reaching up, taking the me all plant in between his fingers and tossing it away.

"Austin," Ally began, knitting her brows in confusion. "Why did you-"

"Ally Dawson, there is no mistletoe above us. I am absolutely appalled," he said in mock astonishment.

"But, Austin," she protested.

"Well... You know what that means."

"What...?" she cocked a plucked brow at the man in front of her.

"You're mine," he smirked, kissing her again before she could reply.

She pulled away for a second just to look up at him and whisper, "Merry Christmas, Austin."

He smiled. "Merry Christmas, Ally Dawson." He quickly put his lips back on hers and could have sworn he had never felt so at peace before.

And Ally was right along.

Christmas was different for her now.

This Christmas ended up being a very special Christmas after all.

_fin_.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: And that's a wrap! Thank you all for supporting this along the way and watching it grow up. This is probably my favorite story I've written ever and all of you made it so easy to enjoy writing it. I hope I see you guys around when I write another story. It's been a bit of a weird month and you all made it a little bit more bearable, so thank you. I love you guys. **


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